Goodbye, iPad [Update]

Update: My original post was lacking depth so I’ve updated with a few more thoughts sprinkled throughout.

Today marks the second time that I’ve returned an iPad. I honestly thought I was going to keep this one, but I woke up this morning and realized that a device I spent over $800 on has been sitting on my couch untouched for days. I don’t have the luxury of spending that much money without thinking twice about it.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the iPad is a great device, but the apps just aren’t doing much for me. And inputting my wireless network password every 20-30 minutes can get aggravating. (I tried all the fixes. No dice.) A Geek Squad agent pointed out that it wasn’t charging properly either. I purchased the iPad at Best Buy and returning one to BB requires an inspection from a Geek Squad agent.

Tablet devices have a place in today’s market and the iPad is evidence of that. You don’t sell over 1 million devices just because people are curious. Will Android tablets be adopted at the same rate? And what about webOS tablets? That all depends on how heavily invested users are in each respective app store. Aside from a full-fledged web browser, the key differentiator for each platform is the apps. Android is picking up steam with the influx of mobile devices and apps will increase accordingly. The future of webOS is up in the air until HP finalizes the deal later this year.

I’m not entirely sure why I’m sharing this bit of info with all of you. I didn’t have a revelation about why the iPad sucks or doesn’t suck. Lack of support for Flash definitely weighed heavily on my decision and until all the sites I frequent are optimized for HTML5 I have no real use for the iPad. (Sidenote: Flash on a mobile device is wicked awesome, but I’ve said too much already.) I can play Plants vs Zombies on my iPhone. I am, however, going to miss the Netflix app.

A few other things worth noting in case you really care to know. I never once activated AT&T service on my iPad and I’ve heard from several others that it’s just as horrendous as it is on the iPhone. Why did I pay the extra $130? I have no idea. Like I mentioned earlier, the apps just aren’t that mind-blowing. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, the iPad App Store needs 3 to 6 months to mature and developers haven’t been able to harness the full potential of the hardware. It’ll happen but not anytime soon.

And I’m honestly disappointed that the iPad is running iPhone OS. A file management system would be boss, but the likelihood of it happening anytime in the near future is nothing more than a pipedream.

Reading books on the iPad just seems weird. I love paper. The entire publishing industry will some day convert to digital, but current generations will all have an affinity for paper. Until devices like the iPad and Kindle are made available in school we won’t rid ourselves of paper periodicals for decades. Apps like ComicZeal 4, TIME and Pop Mech haven’t stopped me from picking up the paper versions. Am I the only one that feels this way?

The chances of me picking up a third iPad before the next generation are pretty slim. The first generation iPhone sat in my desk drawer for an entire year. Go figure.